Amazon Adds Fox Catalog Titles To Instant Video Service

The business world is kind of like the playground; it’s dirty, people don’t always play fair, and there’s always somebody who’s just waiting to blow a raspberry at kids who fall flat on their face. Once the undisputed bully, Netflix has taken a well-known and embarrassing stumble over the past few weeks. Amazon’s taken the opportunity to stick its tongue out and kick the streaming giant while it’s down. A whole heapload of popular Fox TV shows are coming to the Amazon Prime service later this fall.

CEO Jeff Bezos didn’t waste any time bragging about the fact, either; if you head over to Amazon.com, the entire front page is taken up by a letter from the CEO trumpeting the deal.

“The new additions from the FOX library include 24, Arrested Development, The X-Files, Ally McBeal, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and - available on digital video for the first time - The Wonder Years,” Bezos wrote. “We now have deals with CBS, NBCUniversal, Sony, and Warner Bros, and adding FOX will bring the total to more than 11,000 movies and TV shows available for unlimited instant streaming.”

A catalog that big is nothing to sneeze at, and the addition of top-line – if somewhat dated – shows may convince angry Netflix subscribers into trying out Amazon’s Instant Video offering. Amazon Prime costs $80/year, which works out to $6.66 (ooh, spooky!) a month as opposed to Netflix’s $8/month. Plus, it gets you free two day shipping for anything you buy from the website. On the other hand, you need to fork out the $80 up front. So, whaddaya say, Maximum PC readers: does the addition of Fox shows make Amazon Prime Instant Video an enticing Netflix alternative?